


winner at a losing game

by xxcaribbean



Category: One Direction (Band), Real Person Fiction
Genre: Angst, Cheating, Established Relationship, F/M, M/M, ziam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-22
Updated: 2013-01-22
Packaged: 2017-11-26 11:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/649832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxcaribbean/pseuds/xxcaribbean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam cheats, and Zayn is left lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	winner at a losing game

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sRzvDOiIwI) song. also read on [tumblr.](http://thesimpleartofwriting.tumblr.com/post/36129496705/the-authors-note-reply-to-the-prompt-is-actually)

Zayn should've known that something was wrong a long time go. Or maybe he did know but he turned a blind eye to it because he didn't want to admit it and face what he knew to be true.  
  
It started awhile back, when Zayn began to notice the little things, how Liam wouldn't tell him where he was sometimes, how he kept hush hush whenever he went out and didn't return until late the next morning. A few of things began disappearing too within their apartment, but Zayn always figured they were just misplaced, taken from their original spot and moved somewhere out of sight and out of mind.  
  
But none of it is or was out of mind because Zayn's pretty sure he's got a good idea as to what's going on.  
  
He's not the sneaky type, not really. He'd never invade Liam's privacy no matter the cost, but there's a yearning deep down that wants to grab Liam's phone, stick it in his pocket and silently exit the room in order to lock himself away in the bathroom so he can scroll through past phone calls and text messages.  
  
But Zayn's not that rude. He's doesn't have it in his bones like other men and women to go and spy on their beloved in order to see if their suspicions were right because how would that look if Zayn took matters into his own hands and eventually found that Liam wasn't messing about behind his back?  
  
Still though, Zayn knows what's going on but there's that hint of denial, the need for concrete evidence, and he doesn't have it yet.  
  
Until one day he stumbles upon it, quite literally, and he wishes with all his might that he could take it back, that he could've waited til a later date, sometime in the distant future, to walk in on Liam and another girl in their bed.  
  
But life has other plans, and as he stands in the doorway of their bedroom, hand on the door, his bag draped over his shoulder, he only swallows his pride, masks the tears and bows his head before he exits the room and heads straight for the front door.  
  
His name is echoed somewhere behind him but he doesn't stop moving, keeps walking because he'd rather have a lie any day of the week than see what he's just come home to.  
  
"Zayn," Liam says, and he's close behind him, close enough for Zayn to feel his presence and wonder why he's chasing after him.  
  
So as Zayn approaches the door, he debates with himself on whether he should walk away right now or turn around and face the situation, and it's a hard choice to make because he could get sucked back in, drawn back to Liam and his big brown eyes and his look of sympathy that he doesn't deserve from Zayn.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
And maybe Zayn should give him credit because at least he's not playing the whole  _it's not what it looks like_ card.  
  
That thought doesn't make him feel any better.  
  
He lets out a chuckle, a brief, airy laugh that actually means nothing, that holds no humor until he swivels around on his heel, peering up at Liam and everything he used to know.  
  
"I should've known better than to get involved with you."  
  
Zayn means it, but not in the way that Liam's probably thinking. See, Zayn knew that Liam didn't swing for the same team; he'd never expressed too much desire to have sex with a guy unless it was with Zayn, and that should've been a red flag.  
  
"Don't say that-"  
  
"It's true. You may hate to admit this, but I was only the rebound and the experiment. There's no denying that now."  
  
Liam's face falls, crumbles under Zayn's gaze because those words shouldn't define what Zayn is... what Zayn was.  
  
Zayn shouldn't have been a test for Liam.  
  
But then again, he kind of was.  
  
"It's not like I set out to hurt you," Liam admits, voice soft and shoulders slumped.  
  
"Maybe, but you did."  
  
So Zayn leaves him with that. He turns around and he exists the house because what else can he say to Liam right now?  
  
Sure, he's angry and the feeling of utter betrayal grips a hold of his body, shaking him to his very core, but what use would it be to yell and scream and hate Liam? Zayn can't do that. He can't hate his best friend; he can't hate his.... his ex.  
  
Because Zayn's got too much love within him, and he'd been the happiest person alive when Liam had tentatively explored that emotion with him towards the beginning of their relationship, when he'd leaned in and pressed their lips together, something very hesitant that turned into longer kisses and messy handjobs.  
  
Zayn walks down the stairs of his apartment complex and when he gets to the bottom, he stands there and looks down both sides of the street, completely lost in where he needs to go because what once was his and Liam's home, is no longer theirs. It's been tainted by another and for the first time in a long time, Zayn feels displaced. He doesn't know where to go or who to turn to because there's a part of him that believes that whenever he admits the truth he'd known deep down inside all those months ago, they'll only point and laugh at him with a ring of  _I told you so's_ in the air.  
  
In the end, he decides to call Niall because he's sure Louis and Harry will look at him with sympathy and comfort him to the best of their ability until their attention wanders on to something else. But not Niall.  
  
No, Niall understands Zayn in a lot more ways than one, he knows he'll be the first to pick him up and take him to a bar to get pissed drunk, no questions asked. So by the time Niall arrives in his car, Zayn doesn't breathe a word, just gets in, throws his bag into the backseat and let's Niall do the rest, lets his best mate show him a world of comfort that starts with a full bottle of whiskey and ends with him passed out cold on some hardwood floor.  
  
x.x.x.x  
  
"I think you've had enough, mate," Niall tries, and as he reaches over to take the glass away from Zayn, the boy moves it out of reach, giggling at Niall's attempt to save him from further damnation.  
  
"No, never," Zayn tries to whisper, but it's nothing close to it because of how much of a loose canon he is right now. It carries over the bar but no one pays attention to it because there's a considerable amount of other men who are drunk already.  
  
"Zayn, c'mon." He reaches out again and is finally able to take the glass away from Zayn. Niall gulps it down instead, feeling the burn in his throat, and when he sets it down on the table, Zayn's staring at him with bleary, wide eyes and a frown on his face.  
  
"Don't be sad, Niall, okay? Not for me. I'm okay." His words are slurred, and Zayn looks like he's about to pass out any moment, but Niall's able to make out the singe of bitterness in his tone and how much the truth can be dragged out of someone unwillingly, all because of a few full glasses of alcohol.  
  
"I'll be alright, Zayn."  
  
Zayn waves him off.  
  
"We should probably go soon."  
  
"Nah, I need to forget. Forgetting is  _great_."  
  
Niall doesn't ask but he wants to. Either Zayn will tell him in his drunken stupor or he'll do it on his own time when he's not so drunk.  
  
"We can forget at my place. I've got liquor there."  
  
And that catches Zayn's attention, and he eagerly nods and lets Niall lead him out of the bar and back to his band mates place where he almost falls asleep along the way.  
  
When they get inside, Zayn's completely forgotten what Niall had told him about the alcohol, and he stumbles to the couch, sighing when he sits down. His eyes close and Niall debates on whether he should leave him there or not, but he's worried, and whenever he goes to grab an extra pillow and blanket for Zayn to use, he sets the pillow down on the couch and drapes the blanket over the older boy's body.  
  
Niall makes a move to walk away, deciding to leave his friend there, if anything, when Zayn's hand shoots out and grabs a hold of the end of his shirt. "No, Niall, don't leave me like Liam did."  
  
It's another slurred whisper, faint on his tongue and Niall can only stare down at Zayn like he'd just said the craziest thing in the world.  
  
"What?"  
  
Zayn sniffs, eyes still closed while moving his free hand, the one not clinging to Niall, up to his face to rub at his nose to relieve an ich that had found its way there.  
  
"He found better, Niall. Of course Liam found someone better because I'm me, and he is he, and Liam," Zayn unexpectedly hiccups a sob, "he never loved me, and I should've known."  
  
Zayn's eyes have opened by now, peering up at Niall with wet, hazel orbs that are still clouded over by the drinks running through his system.  
  
Niall only feels panicked, and as he works through his thoughts, trying his best to come up with something to say, Zayn moves to lie down on the couch, curling into himself and closing his eyes once again to block out what he can. He's still got a hold on Niall, so the other lad sets himself on the edge of the couch, careful not to sit on Zayn, but close enough that he can rest his hand against Zayn's shoulder in a comforting manner.  
  
"What's going on, Zayn?"  
  
"Cheater,  _cheating,_ with a her not a him, with me." They're more murmured words, but they pierce both boy's in different ways.  
  
They hit Zayn like a freight train because he had loved Liam so, so much but he, of all people, should've known that it's impossible to make someone love when their heart wasn't in it.  
  
And maybe Zayn should give Liam his dues for trying things with Zayn, for giving them a chance, but that would only shove his own feelings to the side, and Zayn's pretty sure he deserves the right to wallow in his own self misery.  
  
Niall, on the other hand, only feels a pang of sorrow and frustration because he knows that the rest of the band will now be stuck in the middle of something that could turn into a much bigger fight. It'll be hard not to choose sides, and Niall can feel his loyalty begin to sway, wondering what Liam was thinking to how Zayn went on with such a charade if he knew he'd end up hurt in the end.  
  
Zayn lets out a whine which snaps Niall out of his thoughts, and all he can do is look down at his friend with a heart full of hurt.  
  
"Thanks," Zayn mumbles, cracking one eye open in order to look up at Niall before he closes it again.  
  
He's wasted; he's in pain and Zayn knows he'll have to deal with this tomorrow because Niall will have questions, and this will affect the band in more ways than one, but for now, he's content to drift off to sleep without a heart full of hate.


End file.
